READ: Zechariah 13:1-9
I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘These are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God’.
Zechariah 13:9 (NLT)
Refining with a flame is one of the oldest methods of refining metals. As the fire burns, the molten gold bubbles and the goldsmith stirs the pot. The impurities in the gold come to the top of the bubbling molten gold. The goldsmith then skims the top of the molten gold and removes the impurities. Thus, the gold is refined and becomes purer and more valuable.
God is putting you through fire. The fire is causing the impurities to be separated from the pure gold. The impurities and waste products of your life, the wickedness, the immoralities and the evils in your life will come bubbling to the surface. Soon, they will be skimmed off and you will become a far more valuable person than you used to be.
Would you like to be the first passenger on a plane that has never gone up into the air? Airplanes must be tested to be sure that they can take off and land. That is why we have test pilots! These test pilots take the plane that has been assembled into the air for the very first time. They test the plane’s abilities in the air. I am sure that you would want to sit on a well-tested aircraft to be sure that everything is working.
God wants to have pastors and ministers who have been well-tested. It is nice that you want to be in the ministry. It is nice that you have given your life to be on the mission field.
But get ready for fire! Expect tests in your life! Expect tribulations! Expect humiliating experiences! It is God’s fire purifying you as gold. After the fire, you will be more qualified to have people under you, more qualified to control money, and you will have a higher rank.